Test ride: B4 Bikes e-cruizer

Among the cars at last week's London Motorexpo were some curious looking bikes. Striking in design, the B4 Bikes e-cruizer was drawing nearly as much attention as the nearby McLaren. The e-cruizer is a new take of the electric bike from the Netherlands and Gizmag took one for a spin.

The B4 e-cruizer was designed by Janpeter Eilander for everyday use as a stylish and sustainable alternative to the car and aims to give a relaxed cruising experience. The first prototype was built in November 2011 and a total of 15 prototypes were made before the production design was finalized and the bike was launched in May 2014.

The bike frame is made out of steel and weighs in at 42 kg (93 lb). It is influenced by the style of the iconic Harley Davidson marque and has a similar splayed seating position as some of those hogs. Each B4 is hand-built in the Netherlands and is custom made to the wishes of the client. It takes 3 months from when an order is placed to deliver a B4 bike.

The e-cruizer has a Crystalyte high-torque brushless motor that is powered by a 36 V, 19.6 Ah lithium battery pack. The battery is charged using a 5 A charger and a power management system balances the consumption during use. Charging time is about 4 hours and a full charge will give a range of around 100 km (60 miles). The bike is front-wheel drive and has a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph). Hydraulic front and rear disc brakes help to control speed, along with a NuVinci Harmony gear-system.

When it came to riding the B4, I found that getting going was the most difficult aspect. With the weight and gear-system, the bike requires a pretty strong pedal to get it moving. It may be something for which you learn to accommodate the more familiar you become with the bike, or indeed something that B4 irons out in its ongoing develop, but certainly there were a few wobbles from me and other testers in the first few meters.

Once you're up and running, however, the B4 is great fun to ride. The electric motor kicks in quickly, with acceleration easily controlled by the speed at which you pedal and your gear selection. A steady and slow pedal will keep you accelerating gradually, while more vigorous pedaling will have you pick up speed quickly. In my brief jaunt around the block at Canary Wharf, the B4 hit 30 km/h (19 mph) without breaking a sweat, and that was only using three of the five available gears.

Cornering on the e-cruizer feels safe even at speed. The bike's design means that you have a relatively low center of gravity and a reasonably long wheelbase, which helps with this. There's a bit of a knack to coming to a stop, however. As any forward pedaling makes the e-cruizer's motor kick in and propel you forward, it's important to have your feet in the right position for coming to a halt well in advance. Absentmindedly moving the pedals forward as you come to a stop will give you a worrying jolt forward at a stop sign or traffic lights.

The B4 e-cruizer is a thoroughly enjoyable ride and has the added benefit of looking exquisite. For short journeys to work, it will be quick, enjoyable, and benefit from low running costs. Among the potential developments for future models include solar-charging capability, range extension and designs based on old motorbike designs.

Stu is a tech writer based in Liverpool, UK. He has previously worked on global digital estate management at Amaze and headed up digital strategy for FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology). He likes cups of tea, bacon sandwiches and RSS feeds.

I like the cool retro look to it. It is not often that one sees big white wall tires on a bike but I think it looks great with it.

BigGoofyGuy

bikes like this reflect a tremendeous failure to study the past 10 years of design history in electric pedal bikes.

there is ZERO point in installing a heavy nuvinci continuous variable transmission unless you are going to be using it to maximize the torque of your motor. in this case, nuvinci cvt hub's only make sense if you are running a 'mid-drive' motor mounted on the frame that has chain driving and connecting through to to the CVT .

cvt's are not only expensive, but have a substantiate weight penalty in an area where weight is highly undesirable--in the wheel.

so FAIL.

a bosch mid-drive through a nuvinci is a marraige between high end technology that makes sense on the end of achieving efficiency and smoothness.

this is a vanity project.

zevulon

It's cool, but sorry, no matter how cool (or not) an e-bike is, it is not a car replacement. Especially not at $7500 (or at $5000, or at $3000). Not everybody lives in cities.

Mrossmas

This is indeed a vanity project. As a commuter vehicle I give it a fail. For the cost of this thing I could buy this http://www.gizmag.com/elio-car-moves-forward-ces/30374/ and be safe from weather as well as not worrying that a driver coming around the corner behind me doing 20+mph more than me is going to turn me into hamburger because he didn't see me until it was too late to slow down.

Joel Joines

I agree with the above posters - Too expensive and too heavy, the drive train seems inefficient as well.
They state any forward pedaling kicks in the motor . . . do you have to keep your feet perfectly still when going downhill?
Or would any pedal motion increase speed, maybe at an unwanted time?

The Skud

who pays nearly 8K for a big heavy scooter that can only go 25mph?
The design looks like a bad cartoon of 1890s motorcycle. If you are going to go that direction, you need to be more faithful to the real thing or else it just looks silly.